BPPJ to hear coalition’s request to rescind statue resolution

Saturday

Aug 26, 2017 at 11:58 AM

There’s a potential storm brewing over the horizon and its name is not Harvey. It is P.G.T. Beauregard, more precisely his statue, displaced from City Park Circle in New Orleans; eventual destination still unresolved.

Jim Butlerjbutler@beauregarddailynew.net

The Beauregard (parish, not Confederate general) Community Coalition will ask the Police Jury in September to rescind a resolution supporting a move to bring the statue to the courthouse square.

Michael Harris said the coalition will appear before a Police Jury committee to ask that what his group calls a divisive move be overturned and that other alternatives be explored for the square.

Juror Carlos Archield said the agenda item will be heard in his Legislative Committee on Sept. 5.

“The Beauregard Community Coalition is committed to having the resolution passed by the Beauregard Parish Police Jury rescinded. If New Orleans is not going to consider transitioning the Statue to Beauregard Parish, there is no need for the resolution to remain active on our books. We are requesting it be rescinded at the next Police Jury meeting,” Harris’ statement said.

The statue is one of a number of memorials to Confederate figures that have been taken from public places of late. Protest and violence in Charlottesville, Va. surrounding removal of a Robert E. Lee statue has re-focused attention on the issue.

The Beauregard coalition and those of similar view across the nation label such memorials an enduring symbol of white supremacy. Those opposing the memorials’ removal say they are reminders of valiant men who fought to defend their cause.

Obviously, the cause is the problem.

In his call for reconsideration, Harris quotes New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu: “This statue ignores the death, the enslavement and the terror that it actually stood for. It was erected to send a message about who was still in charge.”

The coalition has also asked Landrieu to require that any statue location agreement (sale, transfer or donation) require the mayor’s prior approval.

New Orleans media report the city is in discussion with Greenwood Cemetery to house the statue. That cemetery, which sits off City Park Avenue, opened in 1852 and houses an entire tomb for unknown Confederate soldiers.

Harris notes Gen. Beauregard, a New Orleans-area native, has no direct link to the city or parish. He was chosen the namesake by the Legislature when the parish was sliced from Calcasieu in 1912. Some activists have suggested such names be changed.

Two other parishes involved in the Calcasieu breakup are Jeff Davis and Allen. Davis, of course, was president of the Confederacy; Henry Watkins Allen, a Confederate general but also once governor of Louisiana. (Incidentally, officials at Beauvoir, Davis’ home in Biloxi, Miss. have offered to take all abandoned Confederate statues and house them there.)

While the chances of the statue coming to DeRidder appear to be slim, the coalition still wants the resolution of support off the books.

The coalition suggests the Police Jury consider creating an illuminated water fountain on the courthouse property. Or placing a reflecting pool there honoring veterans and law enforcement.

“We believe placing either of these on the grounds of the Courthouse would be a huge attraction for local families and visitors, blend nicely with the historic downtown buildings and more importantly communicate a change in culture to that of a forward-thinking community that welcomes all people,” he said.

Any such improvement would require an appropriation not currently in the courthouse renovation plan or the General Fund. The courthouse is scheduled to open for business the same day the jury committee will hear the coalition request. The renovation fund, according to the August financials, is pretty much exhausted.

One appeal of the statute relocation to jurors voting yes is that private donations are supposed to pay for it. Harris notes the source of the donations hasn’t yet been revealed.

The resolution was reported out of the Ways & Means Committee at the jury’s June meeting. President Rusty Williamson said at the full jury meeting that the request from still-anonymous donors had come too late to alert the public prior to hearing. Issues often arise that have to be added to committee or meeting agendas at the last minute, though they ordinarily are more mundane in nature.

At the jury meeting, Archield, the panel’s only African-American member, voted no on the resolution of support. The other jurors voted yes, with Jerry Shirley and Ronnie Libick absent.